Whereas the mobile phone market remains buoyant it may win additional patronage if the communication system and its devices could relate to the frequently arising need to interact with a smart card terminal, be it to execute a purchase or to verify a right to access a predefined service, or for some other function.
However, standard VHF antennas are almost useless to meet the condition for a transactional data transfer. It is and must remain a bilateral process. Radio antennas radiate into all directions, and can also receive from all directions.
The present invention has as an objective, the modification of a mobile telephone to increase its functionality. The modified telephone may be used in e.g. point of sale and access control transactions.
GB 2321551 discloses power transfer using a twin-loop antenna configuration capable to operate in-phase and in anti-phase. The adaptation of the principle to mobile phones makes extra demands and calls for additional inventive effort. For example, if the particulars of a travel entitlement, or of a routing instruction have to be surveyed quickly, the display area needs to be larger than that normally provided by a mobile phone device. Again, this objective must be attained without making the “pocket size data carrier” clumsy to use.
It will be seen from the description that various modes are feasible. In the foreground are concepts for dividing the device into two parts linked by a hinge or a piece of flexible material as disclosed in GB 2348521. Then, the question arises, how to convey the signals from the microprocessor to the display screen? Could some fibres of the flexible material be used as a conductor? this invention includes proposals to this effect.